Outside in approach makes the customer king

From the first keynote onwards, the importance of the customer was centre stage at the MSH Summit. While customer relations has always been important, it seems that the ‘sell and forget’ mentality of the traditional channel model – perhaps not strictly accurate, but rather too prevalent nonetheless – guarantees failure. Customers want their channel suppliers to understand their needs, to work alongside them and, above all, to be able to trust the. After all, with the responsibility for IT increasingly devolving from the end user (who, once upon a time, bought tin and fitted it all together, or got an SI to do this), to the channel and service providers, who not only sell solutions, but then have to run and support them on behalf of the customer. In simple terms, MSPs are becoming the IT departments for many end users.

Bearing in mind this sea change, MSPs need to spend time and effort on researching their (potential) customers’ needs – right from how they choose to source their IT, what IT solutions they require, and what level of ongoing support needs to be provided.

First up, customers want to know about their potential suppliers. Although the quoted figure might vary, it seems safe to report that over half of the end user buying cycle takes place before any human contact is established. This means that customers are researching possible suppliers via a mixture of traditional and modern, multi-media channels. A muddled, messy and out-of-date website is unlikely to have new customers knocking down an MSPs’ virtual or physical door, yet all too many suppliers seem content to operate their cyber-presence in this way.

What is required is clear, concise and accurate information about services the MSP provides – with clear emphasis on what makes the organisation different and not just another ‘me too’ provider. Customer service is a major potential differentiator, with more and more Cloud and managed services being based on the commoditised services of the web giants. Vertical industry specialisation is another valid approach – with an MSP demonstrating how well they know the problems faced by a specific industry sector, and how they can help offer targeted solutions.

Additionally, there needs to be the realisation that the IT buying cycle is no longer the sole remit of the IT department. Increasingly, any or all company departments are having a say in the specification and purchasing of IT products and services. Yes, the IT department might have the final say, or veto, but it’s no longer enough to target the professionals when it comes to selling – well-informed ‘amateurs’, armed with knowledge acquired from the technology they use in their private lives, can be key influencers in the final purchasing decision.

To summarise – MSPs need to review their customer intelligence, review their own positioning and review their marketing. The end objective being, as more than one speaker explained, is that this new sales model requires an ‘outside in’ approach – the customer’s needs come first, with everything else falling into place around these.

In terms of specific opportunities, the security market is clearly the biggest market right now. While huge end user corporations might have their own security professionals capable of carrying the fight to the hackers, the SME market is especially vulnerable to cyber attacks, as it has little or no in-house security expertise. No one can protect against zero day attacks, but a surprising amount of companies have a surprising amount of vulnerabilities to existing, well-known problems. For example, basic patch management practices are alarmingly absent from many organisations (the infamous NHS attack being one of the more high profile casualties of failing to apply available patches).

Another opportunity for MSPs is, somewhat depressingly, the fact that the incumbent IT supplier may be doing such a bad job that the customer will welcome the approach of an organisation that appears to know what it is doing and can back up this talk with a concrete solution that delivers what is required and, importantly, continues to deliver. In one quoted example, a customer had been unable to access their data for three days, had to contact their IT supplier to tell them this, and the supplier then took a further three days to ‘rescue’ just some of the data. With the bar set so low, a well-organised and resourced MSP might just find plenty of opportunities to win new business!

How these opportunities are developed is crucial to success. Taking weeks, or even months, to talk to the customer from board-level right down to the office/shop floor, to understand exiting problems, future requirements, the nice-to-haves and the essentials, should ensure that the proposed solution meets the customer’s expectations – especially if a technology roadmap has been agreed, with a timeline and key outcomes defined. Such a comprehensive approach to sales should pay-off for both supplier and customer.

And once the business has been won, MSPs need to ensure that they keep in regular, meaningful contact with the customer. One speaker explained how his organisation contacts the customer weekly and monthly, as well as for quarterly and annual strategic reviews.

As for the vertical approach, well, whisper it quietly, in a room where grey, or at least greying, hair and suits proliferated (myself included), it was refreshing to listen to two young entrepreneurs – hosting supplier and customer – talk about the digital agency market. Robert Belgrave and Jim Bowes were the clearest evidence of the day that the IT market is changing rapidly and frequently and that, if suppliers and their customers don’t change with it, then the abyss awaits.

Most notable was Robert’s admission that his hosting company’s initial success was under threat from the commoditisation offered by the hosting giants, so they decided to work with this change, establishing a consulting service that would guide customers – new and potential – through the managed services and cloud maze. The result is, that while some customers stick with Robert’s company’s own hosting service, others go the commoditised route, but with added-value services and support being supplied by Wirehive.

So, flexibility is, perhaps, the final piece of the MSP jigsaw. Of course, planning requires certain assumptions to be made as to the technologies and issues that end users need to address. However, game-changing disruption is, potentially, only a sleep away. Wake up to find that the rules have changed and you can either waste time moaning about how unfair the new rules are, or spend your time and energy adapting to the new rules. And that applies for MSPs and their customers alike.

In summary, wherever you sit in the IT ecosystem, if you’re not excited by the future, then it just might be time to head for the door marked ‘EXIT’.